Asia Travel - Part 31

Philippines: A Culture That Marked History

by Patrick Del Rosario

Are you planning to visit the Philippines for a vacation or for business trips? There are some things you should know about Filipino culture and how they treat tourists in order for you to maximize the excitement and fun you can experience on your stay in the Philippines. Here are some of the most popular aspects of Filipino culture that you will encounter on your visit.

Filipinos love exotic foods

All tourists visiting the Philippines must have been asked about eating Filipino foods like balut, which is sold in every areas of the country. It is like an initiation ritual for tourists that dates way back, maybe even before the World War I and is part of the contemporary Filipino culture today.

Balut is an 18 day old duck chick that is still contained within the egg. Balut vendors normally come around during late hours of the day looking for Filipinos who are searching for a hot, midnight snack. The sight of seeing beaks, feet, wings, and short feathers may probably dishearten others to continue eating it but most would agree that it really tastes delicious. Buy one for yourself when you visit the Philippines.

Filipinos are fond of holding or attending parties

Another thing about Filipino culture is how they like to celebrate occasions. Filipinos rejoice about anything that makes anyone glad or any sort of success. It is part of Filipino culture to revel in cold months and celebrate Christmas from as early as September until January. Natives from the Philippines begin hanging Christmas decors in their homes months before the traditional holiday date.

Aside from Christmas and New Year celebrations, Filipinos have “fiestas” that happen once every year where they prepare sumptuous cuisines to celebrate a patron saint of the city. Traditionally speaking, “fiestas” are conducted to give praises and thanks to the saints for a good harvest. But, in contemporary towns such as Manila, people celebrate almost everything, from high school graduations, successful board examinations, christenings, hiring and promotions at work, and many more.

White men means people from abroad

Somehow it has become tradition for the Filipinos to treat every white man as a foreigner. Americans, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans are among the usual travelers in the country. It’s quite hard for the Filipinos to distinguish between Europeans and Americans. There are no specific explanations why Filipino citizens think this way, so it is not surprising at all if they would readily perceive that you are from America.

Knowing a bit about the Filipino culture will help you enjoy your stay in the Philippines. These three common Filipino cultural traits are almost always experienced by travelers from all parts of the world. Several other things can be learned and enjoyed from visiting the country. Filipinos are among the most hospitable men, and it’s great to discover more about the country’s history and culture.

What are you waiting for? Plan a trip to the Philippines soon and have a merry vacation!

If You Go:

Information about the Philippines
Travel information
Department of Tourism

Philippines Tours Available Now:

Philippines at 4 Provinces-Cebu-Bohol-Camiguin-Siquijor

Island-Hopping Day Tour in Cebu

From Bohol to Oslob Cebu Whale Shark Experience

Couples Retreat Spa Package in Boracay

About the author:
Patrick is a travel blogger from the Philippines. He is now based in California, USA.

Photo Credits:
Luzon people image by giulianabencovich from Pixabay
Balut egg by Marshall Astor from San Pedro, United States / CC BY-SA
Manilla buses by gloverbh222 from Pixabay

Cape Comorin, the Tip of India

Kanyakumari, India

by R. Niranjan Das

There are very few places on this beautiful earth where one can witness both sunrise and sunset over the horizon. One amongst them is Cape Comorin which is the tip of Indian mainland. Cape Comorin which is better known as Kanyakumari is the place where the three humungous water bodies namely, Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal meet up.

After travelling for about two hours from Thiruvananthapuram, we reached the tip of India. It is a crowded little place with shops and hawkers selling shells of various shapes and sands of different colours. A small boat ride from the mainland took us to the famous Vivekananda rock, where the great philosopher had meditated. There are a lot books about his teachings which can be purchased. Next to this, stands the massive statue of Thiruvalluvar, the Tamil philosopher and poet also known as Valluvar, which has been constructed on another rock. These two are in fact the main tourist destinations in Kanyakumari. On the way to these rocks we saw many rocks protruding out of the sea. It could possibly have been a part of the mainland many ages ago.

The beach was our next destination and witnessing the lovely sunset, the intention. The beach is covered with rocks at quite a few places and many tourists including myself climbed on to it to enjoy the colourful horizon and stare at the dipping sun. We kept gazing at the darkening horizon and enjoyed the moments of solitude. Having witnessed numerous sunsets and a few sunrises, I definitely feel that a sunset is more spectacular than a sunrise. Period.

Another interesting attraction at Kanyakumari is the three different colours of the three bodies of water that you can see at one particular location. Shortage of time forced us to leave the same night back to Thiruvananthapuram and miss the next day’s beautiful sunrise. I would definitely like to come back to Kanyakumari some time soon and witness both the visual treats.

Kanyakumari is not a typical beach town as it has a rocky seafront. Travelers head to this lovely place to witness the spellbinding sunrises and the breathtaking sunsets. It is in fact a photographers paradise as it gives them the opportunity to capture the different shades of the sky as the sun rises and sets over the horizon. Witnessing the rising and the setting of the sun makes up for a serene holiday.

If You Go:

Location- Tamil Nadu, South India
Nearest Airport- Thiruvananthapuram Airport
Nearest bus stand and railway station- Kanyakumari
Best time to go- Throughout the year.
Other places of Interest- Thiruvananthapuram

Tours Now Available:
Day Tour to Kanyakumari from Nagercoil
Kovalam to Kanyakumari Full Day Trip

8 Days Kerala to Kanyakumari with Backwater Cruise and wildlife Private Tour

About the author:
R. Niranjan Das is a passionate traveller from Bangalore, India who loves exploring all kinds of destinations and experiencing various cultures. You can find his travelogues on his blog at: rajniranjandas.blogspot.com

Photo Credits:
All photos are by R. Niranjan Das.

The Padaung Giraffe Women

Bagan, Myanmar

by Paola Fornari

‘Would you like to see the giraffe women?’

‘No.’

My guide seemed a bit taken aback by my blunt reply, but he didn’t insist.

To me, the idea of going to ogle at women whose necks are lengthened by the rings they wear on them – and worse, have my photo taken beside one – disgusted me. It reminded me of the Bushmen who were taken to Europe to be viewed as ‘circus freaks’ two hundred years ago.

Anyway, I was in Bagan: the giraffe women, or Padaung, didn’t even come from this area – so clearly they were here purely as a tourist attraction. And my Lonely Planet Guide was clear on the subject: the rings deform the shoulder blades and upper ribs, and often, women are no longer able to hold up their heads without them. Having one’s photo taken with them can only encourage the practice.

The Padaung people are originally from the Kayah state, and come from an isolated, mountainous region near the Thai border, south of Inle Lake. The area is closed to tourists. They are also known as the ‘Red Karens’, because they have a predilection for red in their fabrics, and are similar in many ways to the nearby Karen minority. Many have become refugees in Thailand.
Originally, it seems that the rings were placed on girls’ necks to make them ugly, so that they would not be attractive to men outside their ethnic group. But now, for many, it has become a means of survival.

A few days later, I was at Inle Lake, between Bagan and Yangon, with a new guide.

‘Want to go and visit my friends, the giraffe women?’ he asked.

‘No,’ I said firmly, and once again, my refusal was accepted. But I started thinking. He’d said ‘my friends’. And he was such a pleasant, seemingly ethically conscious man. I’d even had lunch at a monastery with his wife and children and a group of monks. Maybe…

‘But my guidebook says…’ I began.

‘You know,’ he said kindly, ‘the guidebooks are filled with mistakes. It’s written by good writers, who travel a lot, but what do they know about us, our needs, our customs, our feelings?’

‘So are you telling me there’s no human rights issue with the Padaung women?’

‘Absolutely not. I’ve known these women for thirty years. I’ve even been to their village. They have nothing there – no income of any sort. Now that they’ve found a way to help they’re families, they’re so happy. Why don’t you come? You can talk to them for yourself…’

So I conceded, and we set off across Inle Lake, on a long engine-powered canoe. The trip took us an hour. The lake was as calm as a sheet of glass, and as we traveled, I contemplated the fishermen, who looked totally at peace, with their unique technique of hooking one leg around a paddle to propel themselves. An hour later we docked at a handicrafts shop in a village on the lake shore.

Five Padaung women, standing in a line, greeted us. Their were arranged in order of the size of their neck rings. Several tourists were jumping in and out of the line, having their photos taken.

‘They are standing according to their age,’ my guide said. ‘This one on the left is sixteen, and the last one in the line is sixty-three.’

I felt sickened, but I had to give this a chance. Who was I to judge? I sat down on a bench, and a couple of the women sat beside me. My guide interpreted.

‘Do you wear that round your neck all the time?’ I asked.

‘The older people do,’ the sixteen-year-old said. ‘We just wear it in the peak season. Then we go back to the village and take it off.’

‘So the elderly woman sleeps with all that weight around her neck?’

‘She’s used to it.’

‘Why do you do it?’

‘For the older ones, it’s tradition. For us, it’s a way of earning money for our families.’

I examined her neck, and found that it was not a series of rings but just one, coiled round and round many times. It was heavy and rigid.

My guide explained: ‘As their necks get longer, each coil is replaced by a bigger one.’

‘Who changes it?’

‘The ringmaster. There’s one in each village.’

‘When did you start wearing the ring?’ I asked the young girl.

‘Just for this season. I started six months ago, to get accustomed to it. The old woman started when she was six.’

She showed me a dusty sepia postcard of a sad-looking little girl, her neck already unusually long, looking as though a serpent was strangling her.

‘Maybe this is the first photo of a Padaung woman ever taken by a tourist. The girl was five.’

‘Where is this girl now?’

‘In a refugee camp in Thailand.’

‘Why?’
‘She gets more work there than here.’

‘Is anyone forced to wear rings?’

‘Oh no. We like wearing them.’

Maybe, but I simply could not bring myself even to look at the handicrafts that were on display behind the line of women. I deliberately did not take my camera out of its bag. The photos of the peaceful lake, where fishermen paddled as they had done for centuries before the tourists arrived, were all I needed for my Myanmar album.

If You Go:

Bagan, Myanmar

Kayan people (Myanmar)

Private Guided Full Day Tour in Kayan
Ethnic Long-neck Padaung from Loikaw

About the author:
Paola Fornari was born on an island in Lake Victoria, and was brought up in Tanzania. She has lived in a dozen countries over three continents, speaks five and a half languages, and describes herself as an ‘expatriate sine patria‘. At present she is living in Bangladesh.

Photographs are by Paola Fornari.

Korea: Fighting Over Dokdo

by Jonathon Engels

I had never heard of Dokdo, not even by the English name of Liancourt Rocks, until one of my six-year-old students explained to me the significance of his pencil. There was an insignia “I love Dokdo” on it in the same fashion of the New York t-shirts. In six-year-old, slightly garbled EFL-speech, he explained the following:

Dokdo is easternmost entity of Korea, at least disputably. The two tiny islands, a little more than a twentieth the size of New York’s Central Park, are situated between mainland Korea (135 miles/217 kms) and Japan (155 miles/250 kms). Obviously, in such a situation, both countries are claiming ownership. Japan refers to the islands by yet another name: Takeshima.

Dive into the fascinating history of Dokdo and its significance. Plus, check out this course to Learn Korean for Intermediate-level Learners!

My first question, of course, was why two grown countries would be fighting over two rocks in the middle of sea. The answer I got, as seems to be the case in many international disputes, was oil-related. Though no discovery had been made, it was highly suspected vast quantities of natural gas rested off the islands’ shores. For the time being, the stupendous fishing around Dokdo was reason enough.

So, when I noticed that Adventure Korea, the Seoul-based travel agency for miguks (Korea’s version of gringos), was hosting a trip to Dokdo, I seized the day.

While my students all hearted Dokdo, none of them had been. From Seoul, the trip there takes all-day. The island has had only two permanent residents in its history, a husband and wife subsidized by the Korean government and whose home was destroyed by waves, so as another deterrent, you arrive knowing you’ll have to leave soon thereafter. There’s nowhere to stay.

It’s a hell of journey, busing across the country then riding the high seas for several hours to Ulleungdo. As our boat pitched to and fro, the absence of Dramamine became fairly apparent. Under ten, our tour group was tiny compared to other Adventure Korea outings. It seemed but a small percentage of the adventurous were willing to make this trip.

After three hours of tidal roughhousing, the boat pulled into Ulleungdo. At fifty-four miles (87 kms) away, it’s the nearest truly inhabited island to Dokdo and notably closer than Japan’s Oki Island, nearly twice that distance. These are facts that do not go unnoticed in the dispute.

My problem was that it meant after nearly eight hours of travel, I’d have to get on another boat. Though we were staying three days on Ulleungdo, a magnificently secluded destination in the Sea of Japan (or East Sea as it is known in South Korea, or East Sea of Korea as it’s known in the North), our guides had arranged the now-or-never Dokdo extension for the day of our arrival. I hadn’t come all this way to not see this place, so with only the time it took to drop off my bags, I was back aboard a vessel and headed out to sea again.

Getting to Dokdo was going to take three hours round-trip. And, because the seas were rough, like thousands of other annual tourist, it was doubtful we’d even get to dock and set foot on Dongdo, the eastern of the two islets that compose the bulk of Dokdo. Seodo, to the west, is a conical rock that doesn’t even have a place to land. The rest of the territory is composed of eighty-nine “islands” that could be mistaken for boulders that have rolled into the water.

As the tour circled the islands, cameras went mad. Even though Dokdo was underwhelming, barren stone splattered in bird droppings, we’d all undergone hours of travel to get there. Whatever the islands looked like, years of conflict have ensued over them. Serious national pride was on the line out there in the middle of sea, where hardly a soul was watching.

We got lucky in that the boat rocked its way next to the little concrete slab port where Korean police changed shifts and offloaded cases of soft drinks and snacks. Tourists are prohibited, but up the steep face of Dokdo, there is a path leading to the island’s lone dwelling, used by the border police. It appeared a rather drab existence.

Even so, around thousands of Japanese who don’t live there annually claim residence on Takeshima and nearly 900 Koreans on Dokdo. In 2005, when Japan introduced a new national holiday, Takeshima Day, Koreans protested and demonstrated to the point of a mother and son amputating their own fingers and man setting himself alight. In 2006, the “Dokdo Riders” set out on a global tour to raise awareness.

It’s one of the rare contentious places I’ve been, and the most the difficult to get to, where I left feeling less stirred by the conflict. Strangely, I don’t regret the journey at all.

Magnificent tourist attractions in South Korea ! Nami Island & Petit France

If You Go:

For more about the history and controversy surrounding Dokdo/Takeshima or for more on tourism in Ulleungdo, these links will provide you with all you need to know.

Getting There: Because the islands are far away and trips to them infrequent, I recommend joining a tour group. Adventure Korea (www.adventurekorea.com) and WinK Travel and Culture Group (www.meetup.com/travel-715) are good options.

If you want to try on your own, here’s the info you’ll need. For more on the history and conflict surrounding Dokdo, Takeshima, or Laincourt Rocks, visit: www.dokdo-takeshima.com

About the author:
Jonathon Engels, a patron saint of misadventure, has been stumbling his way across cultural borders since 2005 and is currently living in Antigua, Guatemala. For more of his work, visit his website and blog (jonathonengels.weebly.com) or pick your social network of preference: Facebook (www.facebook.com/jonathon.engels), Twitter (twitter.com/JonathonEngels), or LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com/pub/jonathon-engels/24/a90/394).

All photos are by Emma Gallagher.

Kerala: Swaying Palms and Floating Boats

South India

by Raj Niranjan Das

As we are transported from the world of traffic snarls, chaos, hectic work and continuous meetings to the world of lagoons and greenery, we stood awestruck. We were on one of the numerous houseboats parked on the very famous Vembanad Lake in Alappuzha. There are various types of boats: two-bedroom boats, three- bedroom boats, boats with an upper deck, boats with air conditioned rooms. Every day large numbers of such boats go on a lovely backwater ride with tourists who gape blissfully at the mesmerising scenery. Vembanad Lake, the largest wetland ecosystem in Kerala has been the tourist hub of the state for many years. Travelers from all over the world have a fascination for the renowned houseboat rides on this lake.

As we embarked on this quaint form of transportation, all we could see in the vicinity were the numerous floating rice boats (kettuvelloms), the swaying palms on the banks, and the different varieties of birds that nest around the placid lake. The boat propelled forward with no specific route over the massive body of water. Photo clicks, video shoots, passengers blowing kisses at the gorgeous firangi women on other boats, and those trying a hand at steering the boat were some of the activities that we enjoyed during the initial two hours of our sojourn.

The well crafted boat sailed tranquilly on the gleaming lake and went past the little villages, the tiny canals, the alluring toddy shops and the green paddy fields. Due to the openness of the landscape, we were treated to a wonderful cooling breeze which made us sway like the coconut trees on the banks. After a round of games that included cards and charades, it was time for some bacardi blasts and a sumptuous lunch prepared by the in-house cooks. The fragrant whiff in the air said it all. The mouth watering seafood delicacies were spread out and within a flash it was time to lick the fingers.

As the blazing sun set, our kettuvellom was anchored to the shore. Many other boats were also anchored there and it seemed the right spot to take a village walk. We trod through narrow lanes and went past the small houses besides the lake down into the paddy fields. The green blades of the paddy turned yellow as the sun set in the background bathing everything in a golden glow. The rustic charm of the country side was clearly evident. A visual treat indeed!!

A trip to the villages of Kerala must include a visit to the toddy shops. Toddy tastes best and fresh when you drink it in the morning as it turns sour as the day progresses. Nevertheless, we happily gulped it down. Nestled back inside the comforts of the kettuvellom, we watched at a few lanterns glowing in the distance from the many anchored boats and the houses besides the lake. It was a romantic sight.

A dance and a tasty dinner ended our day’s itinerary. The next day began with a typical Kerala cuisine for breakfast after which we were on our way back to the shore. It was one of the most laid back holidays with absolutely nothing to do other than to stare at the shimmering lake, the swaying palms and enjoy the fresh air amidst the lush green surroundings.

If you want a holiday that is all about immersing yourself in natural surroundings while cruising around on a rice boat and eating delicious sea food, Kerala style, a kettuvellom trip on Vembanad Lake is an ideal destination.

Private Backwater Tour – Day Cruise with Lunch on Kerala Houseboat with transfers

If You Go:

Location: Kerala, South India
Best time to visit: October to February
Nearest airport: Cochin (Kochi)
Nearest railway station and bus station: Alappuzha
Other places of Interest: Alappuzha, Cochin

About the author:
Niranjan is passionate about travel, be it long bike rides or treacherous trekking or leisure holidaying or backpacking through the countryside or an engrossing train journey, He dreams of setting foot on every single country on planet earth and meeting adorable strangers, learning new tongue twister languages, tasting mouth watering food, studying vibrant cultures and exploring exotic places. Visit www.rajniranjandas.blogspot.com.

All photographs are by Niranjan Das.